PUC adopts CleanPowerSF program of all-green power

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, December 14, 2011

San Francisco residents may soon have a chance to power their homes and businesses with "100 percent" certified green energy.

But it won't come cheap.

Under the CleanPowerSF program adopted Tuesday by the city's Public Utilities Commission on a 4-0 vote, San Francisco's 330,000 utility customers would be able to get all their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources, starting as early as July 1.

On the downside, typical residential customers would also see their bills rise - at least in the short run - by anywhere from $7 to $54.50 a month, depending on their usage.

That's because, under the plan, the city would be buying the green power on the open market. And prices are booming, as big utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Co. are scooping up as much green power as possible to meet California's renewable-energy mandates.

City customers who want to stay with PG&E would have four months - two before the program's launch and two after - to opt out.

After that, they would face a possible exit fee, though the penalty hasn't been determined.

The bottom line, says Commissioner Art Torres: "If someone wants to pay to be green, they can do it - or if they want out, they can get out."

More than a dozen labor, environmental and social justice groups have warned that unless the city also develops its own renewable energy as part of the package, the CleanPowerSF plan will be "economically unsound."

By the way, the company selected by the PUC to purchase green energy for the city - and to compete with PG&E - is none other than Shell Energy North America, a subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

Pickoff move: You wouldn't know it by the names listed on the lawsuit, but the San Francisco Giants are very much behind the legal moves to block San Jose from selling nearly $7 million worth of downtown real estate at a discount for a new A's ballpark.

A lawsuit challenging the deal was filed earlier this month by South Bay Giants fan Eileen Hannanand a group called Stand for San Jose - whose members include the San Jose Giants, the Giants' Class A minor-league affiliate.

And although Giants executives are staying mum on the suit, sources close to the team have confirmed that they are behind the legal fight - despite Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's edict that both the Giants and A's "stand down" in their territorial dispute over the South Bay until the league decides the future of Oakland's franchise.

Open season: Oakland officials have pretty much conceded there is little they can do to prevent another shutdown of the port if Occupy forces are determined to blockade it again.

Although the port brought in 150 Alameda County sheriff's deputies and an equal number of Oakland police officers to handle Monday's protests, both agencies were under instructions to "facilitate the demonstrators' First Amendment rights" and to move in only if there was a threat to port workers or property.

Under those ground rules, protesters can simply continue to shut down port operations as long as they stay peaceful.

The port's effort to calm nervous shippers hasn't been helped by connections between city officials and some notable protesters.

For example, Mayor Jean Quan's husband was one of what she called the "community monitors" who helped blockade the port during the Occupy general strike Nov. 2. On Monday, Dan Siegel was one of the marchers. In addition to being Quan's estranged legal adviser, Siegel is the law partner of Port Commissioner Alan Yee.

"Try explaining that to someone in China," said one port official who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the problem.

As for the cops? They are in no rush to take on the demonstrators, either - especially after the lawsuits that followed the 2003 debacle when police at a port protest fired on Iraqi war demonstrators with wooden dowels.

So cops suiting up and doing pretty much nothing is "something we're seeing a lot of these days," said Dom Arotzarena, head of the Oakland police union.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

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